August 20, 2013

Reena Behl answered the doorbell of the home she shares with her son and his wife in India's Rajasthan state at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 13, and four men wearing motorcycle helmets demanded to see her son, a pastor.

Because of the helmets, the 51-year-old resident of Rajapark, Jaipur, could not see their faces, she told Morning Star News. When she told them she did not know where pastor Vishaal Behl and his wife were, the four visitors forced their way into the house and started searching for the couple, breaking furniture and other household goods and threatening to kill them.

“The extremists wanted Vishaal and his wife to convert back to Hinduism, and they threatened that they will cut them to pieces if they do not convert back to Hinduism,” Reena Behl said.

Crying for help, Reena Behl fell on the floor as she took blows to her head and the rest of her body. The extremists kicked, slapped and punched her, demanding to know the couple’s whereabouts. The only other person at the home was her elderly mother-in-law.

The attackers fled upon realizing that neighbors were approaching after hearing her cries for help. Reena Behl, who described herself as a Hindu but also a Christian, required hospital treatment for a gash on her head, fractures in her hand, abrasions and an eye swollen black and blue.

“The Hindu extremists have threatened to kill Vishaal a number of times in the past because of his faith in Christ,” she said.

Police Inspector Rajendra Singh of the Adarsh Nagar Police Station told Morning Star News that officers have registered a First Information Report against two unidentified attackers; no arrests had been made at press time.

Vishaal Behl of Fire of God Ministries directs an organization that encompasses two churches in Jaipur and one in Amritsar, Punjab state, as well as evangelistic revival meetings, a jail ministry and a school program. He describes how his family once persecuted him for his new faith, but his mother said that is behind them; they have been deeply impressed by how much Christ has transformed her son, and the family accepts his faith.

“Glory to Jesus,” she said. “Praise the Lord.” Vishaal Behl and his wife have relocated.